Google’s PAX means a patent “peace” between Android OEMs

Google justifies nicknaming the Android Networked Cross-License Agreement as “PAX” for the sake of putting the Latin meaning of the shorthand as “peace”. It’s not an acronym, it’s more important than that to the Android ecosystem and to you.

Its members — Google, Samsung, LG, Foxconn, HMD (representing Nokia), HTC, Coolpad, BQ and Allview — agree upon royalty-free licenses for patents covering Google services-enriched Android devices. Other members may join for free at any time. Over 230,000 patents are currently available for competitive use and may open up certain features that manufacturers have made for their own Android phones to appearing on other manufacturers’ Android phones.

The licensing terms are confidential.

Google has keen interest in keeping “a patent peace” among its Android manufacturers with each unit in the ecosystem contributing data, ad views and taps to the company’s bottom line. It has incentive to keep as many players, big and small serving all nooks and niches, in its bubble and not fighting with each other where a loser may end up shuttering or walking to a different platform.

Jules Wang is News Editor for Pocketnow and one of the hosts of the Pocketnow Weekly Podcast. He came onto the team in 2014 as an intern editing and producing videos and the podcast while he was studying journalism at Emerson College. He graduated the year after and entered into his current position at Pocketnow, full-time.